Many electronic devices are equipped with one or more microphones to receive and process sounds. For example, telephones have a microphone for receiving and processing speech. Devices equipped with multiple microphones may employ applications that can utilize signals being received by one or more of the microphones. If one or more of the microphones are subjected to various factors that affect the signals being captured, they may not be reliable or useful for the application. Accordingly, what is needed is the capability to detect the condition of the microphones.